National Tattoo Association, Inc.
465 Business Park Lane
Allentown, PA 18109 9120

Tel 610 433 7261
Fax 610 433 7294

How the National Tattoo Association Got Started BY:FLO MAKOFSKE

I was asked by a few people to actually put in writing exactly how the N.T.A. came about.



It originally started as the National Tattoo club of the World back in early 1976. The owners of National Tattoo Supply started it back then and it was not a registered organization. There were no dues to join as the National Tattoo Supply paid for it all. Whomever bought from us became a member. You did not have to be recommended to join, you did not have to send in photos of your work, etc. etc.

April 1976 was the date on our first newsletter. Back then it was a three page stapled letter. The second issue had a few black and white photos of tattoos in them and had 8 pages to it. These were back to back whereas the first issue was 3 pages with nothing on the back side of each page.

The first time we had a photo of a car in an issue was in June 1976. It was Jack Armstrong's 1966 Ford. We showed it as he had it decorated with dragons on the front fenders and the words Jack's House of Tattoo painted on each of the front doors of the car.

In our fourth issue (Oct. 1976) we tried something new. This was the beginning of the Featured Artists. Our first feature was on Jerry FLY Colewell from East Patchogue, NY.

In our Dec. 1976 issue we started to list the nicknames of our members.

The August 1977 (9th issue) was the first issue to be in the form of a magazine. However, it was only 16 pages.

Then with our 11th issue (Dec. 1977) we got a bit fancier as our front cover, inside front cover, inside back cover and outside back cover was on light blue colored paper. Each issue after this was a different color. The first was light blue. Others were pink, yellow and light green.The last Free issue was our 13th issue. April/May 1978 and it Featured the Skuse Family and the Amsterdam I.T.A.A. (International Tattoo Artists Association) Convention.

However, the actual start of The National Tattoo Club of the World as a True Organization really began in 1978. Read On... When I.T.A.A. started to flounder Peter Tat2 Poulos and his wife Dianne called to say they would help I.T.A.A. put on their conventions if they'd like. I called the president of I.T.A.A. with Peter and Dianne's offer. They declined it. When I told Dianne and Peter this they said OK. But then a few days later called me back and said why not make "The National Tattoo club of the World" a non-profit organization and they would be more than happy to help run the conventions for us since they had quite a lot of people in their shops that could help out with security and such. We talked it over, sat down and set up the ground rules and regulations for joining. Went to a lawyer and set it all up. The officers then were: Philadelphia Eddie President, Don Makofske - Vice President and Flo Makofske - Secretary/Treasurer. The by -laws were set up for a five (5) year term running from June 1978- May 1983 with no officers receiving any salaries. It was also set up that you would need to be recommended by two (2) Artist members to join and that we would cap the membership off at 1,000 members as we were looking for quality not quantity in our membership. Dues were set up to be $15.00 a year at that time. It was also set up that the Board of Directors (which just consisted of the officers) would form a quorum and would be able to change any of the by-laws at any time.

The first National Convention was set up for Denver, Colorado March 23rd - 25th, 1979 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. We sat down with Peter, Dianne, and Larry Romano as they were going to be in charge of the security and negotiating with the hotel and such. We discussed the rules and regulations of the contests, the dinner, the welcome party, having suppliers there, etc. Since Ed Hardy had brought the subject of piercings up at the I.T.A.A. Reno Convention in 1977 (he felt, as did the overwhelming majority of Artists there that piercing did not belong at a Tattoo convention and should not be linked to tattooing. I.T.A.A.Members voted there and then not to have piercing at future conventions) it was decided on (by the suggestion of Bob Shaw) not to allow facial tattoos or piercings at the National Tattoo Conventions. This was to be a Convention to promote Tattooing and only Tattooing. We did decide to allow suppliers there but they were to be in separate rooms from the tattooing room and were supposed to only allow those with Artist badges in their room. This really didn't work and so it was decided not to have suppliers at any future conventions.

We decided to charge $10.00 registration for members and non-members alike. However, this fee included the dinner for members but we charged $15.00 for non-members for the dinner. This diner fee from non-members helped to offset the fact that we lost $2.00 on every dinner per member since the dinners cost the Club $12.00. Our Welcome Party was not as lavish as they are now but we did have hors d'oeuvres, cheeses, fruits and vegetables to snack on. We charged $100.00 for a booth (there were 9 of them) and Tattooing was only done on Sunday. Walk-ins were charged $5.00 for admission to the Tattoo room on Sunday. The suppliers were allowed to be open on Friday and Saturday only. There were two there Huck Spaulding and National Tattoo Supply.

On Friday we had speakers at this first convention too. Not seminars like we have now but speakers to talk about competition, suppliers, conventions, etc. This was at our Artists Only Meeting. The speakers were: Terry Wrigley, Peter Tat 2 Poulos, Diane Poulos, Don Ed Hardy, Bob Shaw (who even back then spoke about the importance of using Autoclaves and keeping you and your place clean), Big Walt Kilkucki, Painless Jeff Baker, Dave Yurkew, and Arnold Rubin & Jan Stussy from U.C.L.A. After the speakers were finished Tattoo Samy of Frankfurt Germany did a slide presentation of Tattooed People.

On Saturday we held the contests. Some were judged by a panel of judges who consisted of, Don Ed Hardy, Peter Tat 2 Poulos, Philadelphia Eddie, Bob Shaw, and the last judge was either Terry Wrigley or Dave Yurkew. They judged the design sheet competition and the Best Individual Tattoo contest. The other contests were voted on by everyone attending. A list of these award winners and all NTA convention winners will be listed later on.

Sunday was Tattooing until about 9pm. That evening we held the Farewell Party with chips, dips and nuts (both human and mixed ha, ha). This was the time when we got a few of us together to go over what we felt was good or bad about this one and to discuss whether we should do another one or not. At this convention we gave away souvenir match books and balloons.

Have to back up a bit here as other things happened in-between starting this organization as a non-profit organization and our first convention....

The first motorcycle to be shown was in our August/September 1978 issue. It belonged to J. Ray Smith. J. Ray used to dress up in a Bright Blue suit with sequined Eagles, Dragons, Stars, etc. all over it. He really looked sharp at the conventions in that suit.

After the Convention in Denver some of us sat down to discuss what, if any, rules and regulations should be put into the by-laws. Since we weren't quite unanimous in some of the subjects we sent out a questionnaire for the entire membership to vote on. We asked if they wanted conventions to continue. Once a year, every other year, every 5 years, or other. Should the Press be invited, should there be tattooing, (if yes 1 day, 2 days , entire convention?). Should awards be given out and what ones should there be? How should they be voted on and by whom? If no convention would you like a vacation meeting, what type of resort, summer or winter?? What month. Should suppliers be allowed to pass out catalogs and or sell their equipment? What would you like included or eliminated from conventions? Should clubs continue? Should newsletters continue? Should Fans be allowed to join? (reason ...) What qualifications for fans to join? Same for Artists? Any other comments you'd like to say.......

The outcome was that you wanted conventions, every year. You wanted contests and wanted them judged by all attending. You wanted the club to continue along with the newsletter. Fans could join only if they were already members. If new ones wanted to join they had to be recommended by 2 tattooists in the club and have at least 4 tattoos, send in photos of themselves and the name or names of their tattooists. Artists who were already members could remain members any new tattooists wishing to join had to send in photos of their work, their business card, photo of themselves in their studio or the studio they worked in and they needed to be recommended by 2 artist members. Since we received these answers kind of late into the new fiscal year we could not get a convention together in time for the new year so did not hold one in 1980.

Our first colored issue was the 23rd issue Jan/Feb 1980. It contained the Sacramento convention put on by Dave Yurkew and Featured Gene Bernardo of Asbury Park, NJ. It was our first try at doing a color issue. The next issue # 24 we went back to black and white photos. Not enough money in the kitty to continue doing color without first asking the members if they wanted to raise the dues so that we could go to color from now on. So, we sent out a questionnaire again to find out if members wanted to see the newsletters go to color. If so then we would have to raise the dues to $25.00 a year.

July/Aug 1980 (26th issue) we started putting photos of the people being featured on the Front covers. This also marked the beginning of using colored photos in every issue. It also meant the raising of dues to $25.00 a year now to cover the costs of color. This was the outcome voted on by the membership on the questionnaire sent out at the end of the last fiscal year. We also started listing the birth dates of members in this issue with more in the following issues.

The first collector type souvenir given at our conventions was at the Reno 1981 Convention. It was a Tray, white with the Eagle logo in the middle of it and the words National Tattoo Convention Reno 1981 imprinted on it around the outer edge. The convention issue had 20 pages and was our second convention. This convention was hosted by Carolyn and Guy Martynuik.

The first time the souvenir mugs were given out was at the McLean, Virginia Convention in 1982. You also got a couple of books of matches too. Mugs were given every year from then on to those registering before Dec. 15th of the year preceding the convention since that is when I had to order them to get them in time for the convention. This was also our first big Convention issue, it had 36 pages. Our Hosts this year were Sandy and Grandpa Groovy. Billy Wirtz and the Night Hawks Band entertained us at this convention.

We gave the March of Dimes a donation of $461.00 at our Phoenix 1983 Convention. This was from the raffle we held that year. This convention issue had 36 pages too. Our security and hosts were the Peter Tat 2 Associates. This year we had Mi Seitelman (professional photographer) take the photos for us. He also gave a brief lecture on what to use when and where when shooting photos of tattoos. Mugs and Match Books were the souvenirs once more. The Midnight Blues Band entertained us at the Pool Party on Friday Night. Capt. Don Leslie did his sword swallowing act on Sat. at the Awards Banquet.

The officers elected, by the membership, for the term of July 1, 1983 - June 30, 1988 were: Terry Wrigley - President, Bob Shaw - Vice President, & Flo Makofske - Secretary/Treasurer

At the 1984 Philly Convention we presented a check for $2,010.00 for "The Joy Before Sorrow" foundation which grants final wishes to children with terminal illnesses. We also had the Rev. Billy Wirtz Band who entertained us only Friday night and all day Sunday in the Tattoo Room. Thanks to Shotsie, we had lectures by Gary Brauner (dermatologist), Robert Wolhar Jr. (attorney) and Clinton Sanders (sociology lecture). This was the first convention since Peter Poulos' death that the Peter Tat 2 associates weren't in charge of our security. Papa San Blankenship and Don Eakers volunteered to help set up the schedule for us this year. Shotsie Gorman was our Host and MC. He also suggested our having escorts for the contestants this year. He also recommended that we change our name to National Tattoo Association - the membership voted to do so after the convention we set up the name change with our lawyer. This Convention issue had 36 pages. The 1st Peter Tat 2 Award was given this year in memory of Peter and it was presented to Shotsie Gorman for all the help and suggestions he had for this convention.

The first membership stickers were sent out starting July 1, 1984. They were red with white lettering and a black eagle logo. It was also the start of a new cover for the magazine. Apache Jil Tong drew up a new Eagle for our front cover.

The 1985 Seattle Convention was the first to be called the National Tattoo Association Convention. This was also the convention that we did something different. We not only gave a plaque to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of THE BEST TATTOOED MALE, BEST TATTOOED FEMALE and BEST INDIVIDUAL TATTOO We also gave them cash prizes as well. $100 to the first place winner, $50 for 2nd & $25 for 3rd. Best Tattooist also got $100 cash award besides a plaque. This convention issue was also a bit bigger as it had 40 pages. We had a magician, a belly dancer and a few musicians at this convention for entertainment thanks to our Hosts P.A. Stephens and Danny Danzl. The first wedding at a National Convention was also at this convention. Tying the knot were Penny and Philadelphia Eddie. We gave a $1,265.00 donation to the Seattle Children's Home from our raffle proceeds. Also had a lecture on Portrait Tattooing and how to get a Three Dimensional Effect in your tattoos by Nils Osmar. This was the first year that PA Stephens volunteered to be our security director. He had Squatch help him with manning the doors and we had Warren Henderson do our video taping of contests, banquets, etc. Doc Doyle drew up a special cover to be used for the convention issue.

The 1986 NTA New Orleans Convention issue had 64 pages. Doc Doyle also drew up a special cover for this one too. Don Ed Hardy did a lecture on cover-ups and Pati Pavlik did one on cosmetic tattooing. We donated $1,220.00 to The Rudolf Matas Elementary School for children from the raffle proceeds. Mugs and match books were once again the souvenirs. We had a jazz trio at the Welcome Party Thursday Evening & the Tattoo Room on Saturday. This was also the start of the Gala Welcome Party's that the NTA is known for. Jaci Gresham was our Hostess.

The July/August 1986 issue was the first to have a column from our then President, Terry Wrigley. Chuck Edridge also sent us a Tattoo Archive report which was included with this issue. However, since it came in after I had the issue done we decided to send it out along with this issue but on separate pages this time. We also include a centerfold in this issue of Susan James from England.

The 1987 NTA San Diego, Convention issue had 80 pages. This convention was hosted by Big Jim McGlothen. We had a hypnotist and some Hawaiian dancers for entertainment at this convention. We donated $2,000.00 to the Cottonwood Center (a home for troubled children) from our raffle that year. Jack Rudy did 2 lectures at this one. The first on Tattoo Lettering and the second on single Needle & Stipple Tattooing. Dr. Kris Sperry gave a lecture on Tattooing and Communicable Diseases. This year was the first year Richard Todd did a lot of our photo work.

The 1988 NTA Orlando, Florida Convention issue was 80 pages. Our host this year was Sailor Bill Johnson.We gave Mrs Russell's Home for Atypical Children $3,300.00 from our raffle.Our seminars for Orlando were: Origin & History of Black & Grey Tattooing by Jack Rudy, Tattoo lettering by Len Weber, and Photography by Richard Todd

Our Officers for July 1, 1988 - June 30, 1993 were Bob Shaw President, Don Eaker Vice President and Flo Makofske Sect./Treas. It was also the year for the special 10 year Membership Certificates to those members who were with us since we became an official organization in 1978.

We sent out new Membership window stickers in July 1989. These were just white with black lettering and the black NTA Eagle Logo.

The 1989 NTA Arlington, Texas Convention issue was 80 pages. Our hosts this year were Pam & Papa San Blankenship.We gave the Shriners a check for $2,910.00 for their Crippled & Burned Children's Hospitals from our raffle collection this year. The seminars were given by: Jack Rudy on Portrait Tattooing and a slide show/lecture by Chuck Eldridge on the history of Sailor William Holden. Bear was now in charge of Security.

The 1990 (2nd) NTA Philadelphia Convention issue was 112 pages. Our seminars for Philly were: Stress and How To Deal With It by Bill Funk, Black & Grey shading by Jack Rudy, Tattoo Lettering by Len Weber, Tattoo Archives (Life of Charlie Wagner) by C.W. Eldridge. The Sunshine Foundation received $4,505.00 from this years raffle ($3,905) and auction of a Bert Grimm machine ($600).

The 1991 NTA Garden Grove, California Convention issue was 132 pages. Our seminars were given by: Chuck Eldridge on Paul Rogers, Jack Rudy gave more info on Black & Grey Shading, and Tricia Allen gave a lecture and slide show on Polynesian Tattooing. We gave $500 to Children's Hospital and $3,735 to Mrs Russell's Home for Atypical Children. This convention was hosted by Kari & Mike Barba and Jack Rudy.

The 1992 NTA Meadowlands, NJ Convention issue was 156 pages. Chuck Eldridge did a slide show on Sailor Jerry Collins, Jack Rudy did a seminar on East LA Fancy Script Lettering and Dr Kris Sperry did an updated version of Communicable Diseases & Tattooing for us. Our Hosts were Adrienne & Anthony Tollin. Our Charity was Tomorrow's Children and they received $5,051.00 this year.

Our March/April 1993 issue was a 28 page Memorial Issue to Bob Shaw who was our VP from July 1, 1983 - June 30, 1988 and President from July 1, 1988 until his death on March 17, 1993.

The 1993 NTA Cruise to the Bahamas Convention issue was 116 pages. This was the first cruise for the NTA. It was on Carnival's Fantasy Ship. Sailor Bill Johnson helped to set this cruise up for us. Photos for this issue were by:Johnny & Linda Opland, Don Makofske, Bud Kowalek, Linda Bornschein & Uncle Bud Yates.

Our Officers elected for the term of July 1, 1993 - June 30, 1998 were Don Eaker President, Jack Rudy Vice President, Donna Grau Secretary and Flo Makofske Treasurer. Also added to the roster of the Board of Directors were: Bill Mokry and Jack Adams - Convention Directors.

Our May/June 1994 issue had a page of Custom and Street Rod Cars of members. This page was paid for by National Tattoo Supply.

The 1994 NTA San Francisco Convention issue was 188 pages. Our hosts were Bill & Juni Salmon. This was the first year we had both Judges and People's Choice Awards. $5,475.00 was donated to The Paul Rogers Research Center from our raffle. This year we raised the public entrance fee to $10.00 instead of our usual $5.00. After this convention Lyle Tuttle was Roasted. We had a slide show & lecture by Chuck Eldridge on the late Amund Dietzel, Jack Rudy did a question & answer session on anything you wanted to ask him, Tricia Allen did a seminar and slide show on Tahitian Tatu Revival and Ed Hardy gave a lecture about The Classical American Tattoo Designs. While it was not an NTA event it has kind of gotten linked with us over the years and so we kind of adopted Lyle as being an NTA Roastee too.

Our March/April 1995 had a full page of custom and street cars of members. This page was paid for by National Tattoo Supply.

The 1995 NTA Nashville Convention issue was 184 pages. Brian Everett did a seminar on Portrait Tattooing, Jack Rudy had a question and answer seminar (What you always wanted to ask Jack Rudy about Tattooing) Mick Beasley talked about APT and What it was All About, Dr. Kris Sperry did a Question and Answer Seminar called the Medical Hour and Chuck Eldridge's slide show was on Captain Coleman. Our Host was Angel Catron Moon. This year we started the 50/50 drawing and formed the NTA Hardship Fund from the raffle proceeds to help fellow members in times of need. We collected $3,900.00 towards the fund from the raffle and then Brian Everett brought a painting of Col. Todd to auction off and it went for $2,000.00 which we also put into this fund. so, we had a total of $5,900.00 to start this fund off. Since Brian had donated the painting to be auctioned off for this fund we asked him if he would be willing to be in charge of it. That means if you need help you contact him and if we can, we will help you out from this fund. Brian asked us to name it the Col. Todd Hardship Fund in honor of another great Tattooist who had passed away. We agreed.

The 1996 NTA Tucson Convention issue was 184 pages. Keely and Glen Tackett were the Hosts. Our Seminars were Magical Marks (Symbols in Tattooing) by Pat Sinatra, Photography by Richard Todd, Polynesian Approach to Tattoo Body Design by Trevor Marshall, Realistic Tattooing by Brian Everett, Same Shit Different Convention by Jack Rudy, The Medical Hour by Dr. Kris Sperry, How to Keep Your Employees and You Happy by Steve Ferguson, Tattooists of Olden Days from Arizona by Tattoo Archives' Chuck Eldridge and one on Machine Maintenance by Dave Long. Gene Houghton became out official Video Director at this convention. This year we changed the award winners from First and Second Place to The Top Three Winners. We collected $4,233.00 from the raffle and auctions for the Col. Todd Hardship Fund.

The 1997 (3rd) NTA Philadelphia Convention issue was 228 pages. Our Hosts were B ill Funk and The Crew at Body Graphics. Terry Wrigley was NTA's First Official Roastee. $4,150.00 was collected from the raffle for the Col. Todd Hardship Fund plus a $9.00 donation from David Gee. Our seminars were: Photography by Richard Todd, Magical Marks Part II by Pat Sinatra, Polynesian Body Design Part II by Trevor Marshall, Realistic Tattooing by Brian Everett, Don't Lecture Me Lecture by Jack Rudy, The Medical Hour by Dr. Kris Sperry, Tattoo Archives by Chuck Eldridge, and Machine Maintenance by Dave Long.

The 1998 Los Angeles and Mexico Cruise Convention was billed as our One if by Land, Two if by Sea. This issue has 222 pages. Trevor Marshall and Jan Seeger were our Hosts. Jack Rudy was Roasted at this one, but he missed the boat. Dave & Peggy Sucher became our new Security Directors and were voted in as members of the board of Directors along with Brian Everett . $3,110.00 was collected for the Col. Todd Hardship fund plus a donation of $4.00 from Gypsy DeNaverett. Seminars were: Henna Designs by Kathy Rudy, Magikal Marks Part III by Pat Sinatra, The Power of Placement by Suzanne Fauser, Poylensian Body Design Part III by Trevor Marshall, S.O.S. (Same Old Shit) by Brian Everett, If You Don't Like The Lecture - Ask Yourself, "What did I Pay For The Tickets?" by Jack Rudy, The Medical Hour by Dr. Kris Sperry, Tattooists From the Los Angeles Area by Chuck Eldridge and Machine Maintenance by Dave Long. The Cruise part of this convention was aboard Carnival's Holiday Ship. It went to Catalina Island and Mexico.

Our officers and Board of Directors for July 1, 1998 - June 30, 2003 are: Jack Rudy - President, Uncle Bud Yates - Vice President, Bill Funk - Secretary, Flo Makofske - Treasure, Bill Mokry and Jack Adams - Convention Directors, Brian Everett - Col. Todd Hardship Fund, and Dave & Peggy Sucher - Security Directors

The 1999 (4th) NTA Philadelphia Convention issue was 176 pages. This was our 20th Convention. Once again Hosted by Bill Funk and The Crew from Body Graphics Tattoo Studios. Seminars were given by: Kelly Miller on Ethics in Tattooing, Erik Levy on Water Color Technique, Shotsie Gorman on How to Get Free PR, Kathy Rudy on Henna Design, Brian Everett with his S.O.S. (Same Old Shit) Till You Get Tired of Me, followed by Jack Rudy's "Just When You Thought You Knew all The Answers, Jack Has Changed All The Questions" Mario Barth and Damian Guerin with the Legal Aspects in Tattooing, Chuck Eldridge on Tattoo Related Paper Collectibles and Dave Long with his Machine Maintenance Seminar. Billy Tinney was Roasted at this one. He was the last to be chosen by Flo, from this point on we had those who were previously roasted form the Roasting Alumni Club and become the committee who chooses will be roasted next. Collected $8770.00 from raffle, donation and auctions this convention for the Col. Todd Hardship Fund.

The 2000 San Antonio Convention had 132 pages. Bob Montagna was the Roastee for this one. Our seminars were: Debi Kienel On Business Promotion, Bill Funk on Business Management, Brian Everett on Portrait Tattooing, Jack Rudy Ask Anything You Want To Know About Tattooing, Sister Bear with The Medical Hour, Chuck Eldridge on Tattooists of Texas and Dave Long On Machine Maintenance. $4650 was collected between raffle and donations this year for Col. Todd Hardship Fund. Hosted by Michael Oldham.

The 2001 Reno Convention was our 20th Year Anniversary for coming back to that city. Our First Reno Convention was in 1981. This was our biggest one so far thanks to all the great PR work our Hosts Carolyn and Guy Martynuik did for this one. $4995.00 was put into the Col. Todd Hardship Fund from the raffle at this one. The seminars were: Kelly Miller did Ethics in Tattooing, Debi Kienel's was Business Promotion, Rich Ives did one called Got Color?, Bill Funk on Business Management, Brian Everett on Photo Realistic Black/Grey Tattooing, Jack Rudy called his The Infinitely Best Seminar, Sister Bear did The Medical Hour, Chuck Eldridge did one on George Fosdick from the 1920's, Dr. Haruda called his "Talk With the Doctor" and Dave Long did his Machine Maintenance Seminar.